The Spectacles are essentially sunglasses that double up as a camera. Twin lenses, positioned just above your eyes, can capture video from your perspective at the touch of a button. The video is then automatically beamed to your smartphone ready to share with friends using the Snapchat app.

Available from a special vending machine in central London or to order online, a pair will set you back around £130. They’re certainly an interesting idea, but could you see these Spectacles taking off?

Snap Spectacles

After pairing your Spectacles with your smartphone, you can record video clips up to 30 seconds long by pressing a button on the side of the glasses.

With the Spectacles, you don’t have to get your phone (or your camera) out of your pocket or bag to capture a video, so they encourage you to document memorable moments in a more spontaneous way.

A light on the outside of the glasses illuminates when you’re recording, so people around you will know when you’re recording.

The Spectacles are being sold in limited numbers from vending machines called Snapbots. This marketing is every bit as quirky as the glasses themselves, and the Snapbots are more than a little reminiscent of the ‘Minions’ characters from the film Despicable Me.

When you stand in front of the Snapbot, a large, circular video screen blinks like a cartoon eye before showing you an ‘augmented reality’ video of yourself wearing the Spectacles – a sort of virtual try before you buy service.

Photos of the future

This is the first hardware product that Snap Inc. has ever released, and it has the potential to really shake up the tech industry. Snap Inc. is clearly hoping that products like these will break down the barrier to using its app, and make users more likely to record more spontaneous video.

But much like the ill-fated Google Glass, there are clear questions about privacy too. While there is a light on the glasses that indicates whether they’re recording, they’re still fairly discreet.

So, we’d love to know your thoughts on this unusual product – will these Spectacles take off? Could they persuade you to use Snapchat? Or, if you already use it, do you think you’d record video more frequently if you had a pair?

Well I can see plenty of opportunities for misuse; and resulting violence. But then I tend to think critically of new inventions being hyped by the media as they never think of the downsides.

I have no doubt that disabling the recording indicator light and having larger memory will be the tweaks some will find useful. As for domestic arguments, staged incidents, and voyeurism I can see these as marginally amusing with immense downsides.

You have given a nice piece of advertising on those specs Daniel and who am I to criticise that ? , no, advertising I understand but that is not the point in this app. You do know its a spy app -dont you ? Lets get down to basics , the MSpy Snapchat Hacking will monitor the activity of children ,it can track,intercept, and see messages and the entire database that the target might have used on any phone, android OS or iPhone all activity is stored on a huge database .Once installed -sit back and spy on your target recover/retrieve lost data and help you access the password of the monitored account , there is more but some on this website have complained of “too much data ” . It has been used by the US government , and again I wont go into detail . It is soooo good at spying that a “Critical Legal Note is displayed -ie- a DISCLAIMER not to use it for spying . On the other hand its selling like “Hotcakes ” in the USA , it does not take a degree in philosophy to understand why . I am sure somebody is going to say-not telling the truth Lucas but its off US high tech websites not “comic cuts ” . By the way the US Official TEA Party website isn’t happy about it either and has comment from a US attorney as well as classes and other activities being monitored , and you do know anything digital connected the the web is “intercepted ” .

If Conversations are looking for tech products to comment about perhaps Which? Conversation could do a piece on the large e-readers which are never tested. The 13″ ones are new technology and do have some practical uses.

Patrick Taylor- big business USA global marketing strategy –need I say more ?? –follow the “trends ” which are created – push big – never fails( well nearly never ). Give the Americans their due Kings of Advertising.

It sounds fun to try, Dean. I’m always interested in what can be achieved with new technology. I can’t see myself ever wanting to own these spectacles, but a smartphone has proved more useful than I had expected it to be.